Touchdown

If you dont want to get wet on the hill down to the splash down, grab the restraint and duck down. Ive only once got a little spray in the back doing this.

Opening day wasnt really that bad, unless you wanted to ride Diamondback at opening. I dont think I waited more then 45 min for anything after my 90 min wait for my first ride on Diamondback. I pretty much stop going to parks on Saturday after the first two weeks in June if I can help it because of the crowds. Much better to go on Sunday.

Sometimes people know before hand thats why I added the qualification "if you knew." Not every company buys out the park, sometimes they have picnics and buy a bunch of group tickets. Its cheaper that way. Even so, if you go on a Saturday in July you should just expect it to be crowded. There is a reason they are open till midnight.

Yeah shame on them for making money by having the park at capacity! Its a Saturday in July, you should have known better, especially if you knew Dollar General was having their company day there in advance. Also, Ive seen those lines all the time in October, it is a weekly event every Saturday night.

Kevin, what do you think Voyage is at Holiday World? Its mostly steel, but yet its made by the Gravity Group who profess to be a wooden coaster manufacturer. Also Arrow Dynamics built Gemini, and Adventure Express. That company pioneered the steel coaster design with the Matterhorn and created the steel tubular track, that company would vehemently deny that it ever built a wood coaster (if it was still around.) Weither or not something is a steel or wooden coaster depends on the track, more specifically the rails. If said rails are made of tubular steel, its a steel coaster. If they are made of many layers of laminated wood with a thin steel strip on the surfaces where the wheels touch it is a wood coaster. The two designs give vastly different rides, one can (and in the best designs is) butter smooth due to the nature of metal and the ability that the wheels have to hug the tubular shape while the other since at its core is made of wood and the wheels are not as firmly attached to the structure gives a less smooth, more "out of control" ride.

Until Kings Island only consists of a mildly themed western section and/or amusement park themed areas it will remain a theme park, no matter what CF says.

^But if they only cared about thrills then a theme change would not bother them. Not to mention, you wouldnt find them at Universal, it just has 3 B&M coasters and one kiddie coaster at one park and a "kiddie" Premier, a kiddie coaster, and a busted down coaster at the other. Those thrill seekers would be just north of Atlanta, of if that was too far in Tampa (where they would deal with the themeing for 3 B&Ms, a Swartzy, 2 GCIs and a Mouse.)

Cedar Point is an amusement park, Kings Island is a theme park. Cedar Point has a collection of amazing steel coasters, Kings Island has a legendary wood coaster and now one amazing steel coaster. Personally, one park is really not enough to call "my home park." I like variety, and thankfully I live in a place where the two are a day trip away, I go to CP more often (its closer) but I go plenty of times to KI too. They compliment each other quite well.

Ive gone on a Friday the past two years, once was the week before Halloween, the other Columbus day weekend. Both days the park was pretty uncrowded. Also I strongly disagree with the coasters first plan for Friday, because both times I have been able to do every indoor house in the first hour before the outdoor zones open (and I "walked in" to all but Carnevil.) At 8, you need to be in line for the Trail of Terror, it by far has the longest line of the houses. Also for Tombstone Terroritory, I would strongly suggest a seat in the back cars of the train, on the left.

King's Island does not have a Halloweekends, Cedar Point does. KI has the Halloween Haunt. From Personal Experience: -Fridays: Pretty darn dead -Saturdays: During the day, normal summer weekday but come twlight the park is packed to the gills -Sundays: Im told even more dead then Fridays Cedar Point (if thats what you were asking about): -Fridays: Pretty darn dead -Saturdays: The most crowded the park is during the entire year -Sundays: Pretty darn dead

As much as I love Raptor there is only one coaster in that park Im walking on (again, and again) at 9:45, its big, its red, and its more then just a hill.

Also, carbonated beverages while not nearly as good as water or sports drinks are still mildly hydrating. There is not enough sodium or caffeine in order for them to have a dehydrating effect like alcoholic beverages and some more potent coffee drinks.

The only thing that is going to change about Dueling Dragons is the queue and perhaps the colors of the dragons. There is a plot point in the fourth book where the Harry and 3 other students battle a dragon as part of a Wizard Competition. Each battles a different species, Chinese Fireball, Welsh Green, Sweedish Shortsnout, and a Hungarian Horntail. Odds are high that you will have to choose your fate between a Chinese Fireball (easy changeover of Fire) and a Hungarian Horntail (Harry's dragon, the former Ice.) Universal is above all a movie park and they do it well. Why some of you do not understand them wanting to cash in on the most profitable franchise in movie history (it will surpass 007 in ticket sales in a matter of weeks) is beyond me.

I just cant believe given your name sake that youre going to be in Mason instead of Sandusky tomorrow. TTD and Magnum ride night are tomorrow! Thats where Im going to be .

With the PP ERT, the longest wait I ever wait the entire day is usually 45 min, and that is for my night ride on MF (a must.) My typical day is this: -Maverick -MF -TTD -Power Tower -Magnum -Magnum -Time to stall for Gemini to start racing (usually sometime between 11:30-12,) Witches Wheel -Tilt-a-Whirl -Gemini -Skyhawk -Go to Car eat lunch -Go to Soak City, chill -Reenter at Resort Gate -Chaos -Maxair -Troika -Maxair -Raptor -If the line is <30 min, Raptor again -Blue Streak -Calypso -MF night ride -Walk through Starlight -Magnum Marathon (3-5 rides) Thats the basics, must do in a normal day list for me, I do vary it up with additonal rides I dont normally do, see a show (Highly suggest Got Country! and Signed Sealed Delievered) and re rides on the rides I listed as well (slow days usually mean additional afternoon rides on Maverick and MF.)

Easiest ways to cool off: -Boomerang Bay -Water Rides -See a show in an indoor theatre -Scooby or FoF

^Another reason to start with TTD, you should be able to do every ride you want to do between there and Maverick (Gemini, Tilt a Whirl, Witches Wheel, Power Tower, Magnum, Mean Streak, Skyhawk, etc.) before 1pm. Thats when I usually head on over to Soak City, but if I didnt have ERT I would then suck it up and wait in the Maverick line, then take the train to the Main Midway and do all the rides in the front of the park next (Raptor, WT, Chaos, Blue Streak, Troika, Maxair, etc.) and then come back to MF just as its getting dark and get a night ride on that and end the night with a Magnum marathon

If you get to TTD fast, at 10 you should only have a 30-45 min wait max. Maverick is typically already 1+ hour wait, MF is usually 45-60 min and Raptor, well don't be a sheep and head to the first ride you see. While Raptor can get 2.5 hour waits at the start of the day come 3-5 you can usually find the wait <45 min.

What coaster should we go on first? That depends, do you have Platinum Passes? If that answer is yes, then you get an hour of ERT on Maverick, MF, Raptor, Iron Dragon and Planet Snoopy from 9-10 every morning. If you do, do Maverick first, if you dont you should head to the one big ride that is not open during ERT (TTD) first. Should we bring our own food? Food at CP is expensive, and not too particularly amazing (although the Fat Frier Fries are pretty darn amazing) so thats up to you. Should we get there really early??? If you have a Platinum Pass you have that extra hour of ERT to remember about but either way arriving 15 or so minutes before opening is more then enough time to park, slab on the sunscreen and hit the gate.

You don't need two days when you stay on property, then you get unlimited Express Line access. Ive done every attraction at both parks in a day, no sweat (and even marathoned a few) but of course you want to stay more then one day. You know you're part of a coaster enthusiast family when you rabidly compete on MIB and chastise members who do poorly (especially if this results in you "not earning your suit" that ride.)

^There is no cycle, most years they add two new attractions one to HW, one to Splashin Safari. This year they broke that trend by building one ride that is considered part of both parks.

They have traditionally added something to the Water Park and the Theme Park every year. This year it just so happened that Pilgrims Plunge is considered both a Splashin Safari ride (feel free to wear your water park gear on this) and a Holiday World Ride. I doubt a Beemer is ever going to that park, simply because the high minimum height all their rides have makes it decidedly unfriendly towards their core auidence (families with small children.) If a steel coaster does go in, a smallish launched coaster or a non B&M hyper would probably be the direction they go towards. Although Im secretly hoping for a Revenge of the Mummy dark ride/coaster. What about Rudolph: the Ride?

I would highly suggest you check out at least some of the shows, but as I said in my TR Thunderhead is in my top 10 wood, Mystery Mine is unique and extremely fun, Tennessee Tornado is one of the best coasters Arrow has ever made and Blazing Fury is good cheezy fun. You might have a problem spending 1.5 days there if you dont go to shows, and it will be expensive but still worth it.

Minimum to be a roller coaster in my book: -It must have wheels and roll down a track (hence the name "roller") ->50% of the ride's distance must consist of the vehicle "coasting" (ie only powered by gravity) -Must have a way that a person is securely attached to the ride vehicle and/or a method of securing the ride vehicle to the track. -Any machine that generates additional energy beyond gravity must not be located on that train. Edit-I was thinking about this myself, I think that covers every coaster still operating. Although prior to Miller's up stop wheel design the trains were not firmly attached.

Beast vs Voyage: Pretty much a tie for me at the moment Legend vs. Racer: Legend Raven vs. SOB: Raven In short Beast=Voyage>Legend>Raven>Racer>SOB so the team effort gets HW the win.